Farewell Colt

[Navaleye]

From the Times today. Sad to see more historic names pass (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,170-2115642,00.html)

[UnderPowered]

I drove out of the place, slightly jaded, on Sunday afternoon. All quiet, lifeless, already starting to show signs of delapidation. Almost like I was looking at it in black and white on a TV. Alot of pride, achievement, action, history, happiness, sadness, piano burning, streakers outside the mess at Christmas, all gone. Like it never mattered in the first place. Like an old friend has died.

[stiknruda]

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the ball on Sat eve - one of those "once in a lifetime" do's.


I was driven out also feeling very jaded on Sunday:E

[BEagle]

I feel the same when driving past Abingdon, Chivenor, Honington, Scampton, Wattisham..... And perhaps even Brawdy, were I to venture to the Llnd of no vwlls. All were once busy, thriving RAF aerodromes where once I flew....

And North Luffenham and Mountbatten, where tens of thousands went through decompression and wet dinghy training.

Remember as well Acklington, Andover, Aston Down, Ballykelly, Bassingbourn, Bicester, Biggin Hill, Binbrook, Bovingdon, Church Fenton, Driffield, Elvington, Finningley, Fulbeck, Gaydon, Gravely, Hamble, Honington, Kemble, Leconfield, Lindholme, Little Rissington, Manby, Newton, North Weald, Oakington, Ouston, Pershore, St. Davids, Spitalgate, Stradishall, Strubby, Swinderby, Syerston, Tangmere, Ternhill, Thorney Island, Watton, West Raynham and White Waltham...plus some I've probably forgotten.

When I joined, all were still RAF aerodromes. With proud histories. Now - well, at least the grunts have taken over some of them.

But not their souls.

And now Coltishall as well....

Sad, desperately sad. Where will it all end?

[soddim]

Yet another mistake by a government that wants to take part in military diplomacy but doesn’t want to foot the bill. But the RAF will go on long after this power-crazed autocracy has been eventually totally discredited and hounded out of office.

[maxburner]

Yet another mistake by a government that wants to take part in military diplomacy but doesn’t want to foot the bill. But the RAF will go on long after this power-crazed autocracy has been eventually totally discredited and hounded out of office.

But, will Dave and his team care enough to undo some of the damage done by this bunch of jokers?

[roush]

I feel the same when driving past Abingdon, Chivenor, Honington, Scampton, Wattisham..... And perhaps even Brawdy, were I to venture to the Llnd of no vwlls. All were once busy, thriving RAF aerodromes where once I flew....

And North Luffenham and Mountbatten, where tens of thousands went through decompression and wet dinghy training.

Remember as well Acklington, Andover, Aston Down, Ballykelly, Bassingbourn, Bicester, Biggin Hill, Binbrook, Bovingdon, Church Fenton, Driffield, Elvington, Finningley, Fulbeck, Gaydon, Gravely, Hamble, Honington, Kemble, Leconfield, Lindholme, Little Rissington, Manby, Newton, North Weald, Oakington, Ouston, Pershore, St. Davids, Spitalgate, Stradishall, Strubby, Swinderby, Syerston, Tangmere, Ternhill, Thorney Island, Watton, West Raynham and White Waltham...plus some I've probably forgotten.

When I joined, all were still RAF aerodromes. With proud histories. Now - well, at least the grunts have taken over some of them.


BEagle, can you please keep clear of Waddington. It seems from your post that the real reason these places are closing could be you:) Oh, you might also want to visit either Yeovilton or Culdrose thus closing that thread also.:ok:

[BEagle]

Sorry - I was based at Waddo with GVTF in 1979....

And flew in a 'Vixen coal hole at Yeovilton in 1966...and again in an Airwork Sea Vampire in 1969.

Never been to Dulldrose though.

[soddim]

Suggest Beagle visit 10 Downing Street!

[Roguedent]

And number 11 as well please, just to make sure the new one gets booted as well:ok:

[Navaleye]

BEags, wasn't that Farnborough '66?

[NURSE]

Yet another mistake by a government that wants to take part in military diplomacy but doesn’t want to foot the bill. But the RAF will go on long after this power-crazed autocracy has been eventually totally discredited and hounded out of office.

But By that stage most of the old airfields and Army bases will be housing estates and buisness parks.(espically those near London)

[Argus]

And perhaps even Brawdy, were I to venture to the Llnd of no vwlls. All were once busy, thriving RAF aerodromes

Only some one who is hardly past the first bloom of youth could make such a claim. Others, like me who flew from Brawdy when it was HMS GOLDCREST, can't possibly comment.

[BEagle]

Navaleye, yes, it certainly was. Yeovilton to Farnborough to HMS Hermes to Yeovilton....

And of course Brawdy was a navalestablishment in earlier days. The locals in Solva described a Sea Hawk once flying past the pub at very low level!

It was an RAF Hunter station when I was there though. But the phonebox in the Officers' Mess still said 'Wardroom, RNAS Brawdy' on the placard in the phone!

The only thing naval when I was there was the 'Biscuit Factory' inhabited by weird American Secret Squirrels.

I once got a couple of them into "Ah cannot confirm o' deny...." robospeak after I'd had to jettision my tanks following a flashing engine low fuel pressure light. "Hope I didn't blow your headphones off, chaps, when I punched my tanks into the bay?" quoth I.

They were Not Amused.

We called it the 'Biscuit Factory' because it was commanded by a Captain Jacobs!

[buoy15]

Beags
Thought you might have mentioned Malagassi, Gan, Tengah, Changi
Surely,a wise and experienced aviator like you must have touched down there at sometime, perhaps in a Vickers Fun Bus?

[Krystal n chips]

Beags
Thought you might have mentioned Malagassi, Gan, Tengah, Changi
Surely,a wise and experienced aviator like you must have touched down there at sometime, perhaps in a Vickers Fun Bus?

And Colerne ;)

[Widger]

Just thought I would give all you crab lovers out there a taste of your own medicine and an understanding of what we have been putting up with on Pprune.


Coltishall....good riddance I say. complete waste of taxpayers money and totally out of touch with today's force. Could never open when it was hot....should have shut years ago and been replaced with an aerodrome with lots of transports!



:ok::ok::ok::ok::ok::ok::ok::ok::ok::ok:

On a serious note...once the A1 is covered in controlled airspace I think there will be regret at shutting such airfields. Short hop to EGD323, easy access to the NE.

It hurts does it not...get used to it! http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Aircraft/Airstations/FAAAirStationsHomepage.htm

[cazatou]

BEagle,

At least we are back in Habbaniya where 4FTS became the only RAF FTS to win a Battle Honour!!

Surely you remember that?

[handysnaks]

Wildenrath, Gutersloh, Laarbruch.....................:{ (well, no tears for Gut or Laarbruch)

[L J R]

A sad moment is always attached to the closure of a base that held such fond memories (for those who hold such memories of same), but for goodness sake guys......grow up and recognise that airpower can be projected from the Island nation that the UK is with even less bases that are existing even today. Your choice.....lots of airfields or lots of toys. I know what I would pick if I had a FIXED budget to spend on a combination of above....




I look forward to an air force that is out of the '50s and into the new milenium.

[BEagle]

Hmm - sorry, but with w@nkwords such as 'air power projection', you just aren't credible.

Some of us just can't bear to watch the implosion event which is today's RAF...

[L J R]

A fair call Beagle, but really, how many airfields do you really need???

[SirPercyWare-Armitag]

Underpowered: I drove out of the place, slightly jaded, on Sunday afternoon. All quiet, lifeless, already starting to show signs of delapidation. Almost like I was looking at it in black and white on a TV. Alot of pride, achievement, action, history, happiness, sadness, piano burning, streakers outside the mess at Christmas, all gone. Like it never mattered in the first place. Like an old friend has died.

Underpowered - that is probably the best posting on pprune I have ever read - apart from the ones I have posted. I too left on Sunday ahem sometime during daylight with feelings tinged with nostalgia. Some people can't or won't understand what we mean by this and what Coltishall meant to us. These people, as those of us who understand Sun Tzu, Clausewitz and military doctrine are aware, are known as chisellers.

RAF Coltishall and the men and women who served at the Stn had achieved harmony; a perfect compromise between operational focus and care for the service (and civilian) community. Sadly, all the critics do not have the integrity to stand up for themselves or us - too ready and willing to bleat out Orwellian fashion the lastest dogma from the top at the expense of service ethos and traditions.

Bah to the lot of them

[BEagle]

At the end of WW2 there were 120 military aerodromes with tarmac runways in East Anglia.

Now there's just Marham and grunt-infested Wattisham.


So I'd say there's a need for something between 2 and 120?

[SirPercyWare-Armitag]

L J R
How many airfields do we need? Probably only one. In the same way the army only need one big army base and the navy one big dockyard. Why dont we rip up HMS Victory and Belfast - we dont need them any more - nasty hulking relics of a bygone era. The wood and metal can be recycled into something useful like coca cans and JPA computers. Why do we need enormous army bases in the south of England? Prime real estate to be sold off so we can move HQ Land to Otterburn

[neilmac]

I had an invite , but didnt go for reasons, christ gonna regret that!! Wonderful unit, 2 1/2 yrs spent there as an ATC/Opsie. Proud Sqns(54 was best obviously). My first posting and the fondest, even beating Gib, ive talked to so many peeps since who were at Colt........never never a bad word said. No other base in the RAF can honestly say that!

[ZH875]

At the end of WW2 there were 120 military aerodromes with tarmac runways in East Anglia.

Now there's just Marham and grunt-infested Wattisham.


So I'd say there's a need for something between 2 and 120?Wyton still has hard runways and (Rented) aircraft.

To think that Bernard Matthews probably owns more airfields in East Anglia than the MOD.

[Mmmmnice]

HANDYSNAKS - "no tears for Gut".....wash your mouth out Sir. It was a fine place when populated by SH and the 'daylight & garden fete stunting jet' Ah the G spot!

[BEagle]

Wyton in East Anglia? Hmm - depends where you draw the line.

OK then, by that definition there might be a whole three military aerodromes left in East Anglia - although one has grunts squatting on it and another has hordes of pen pushing spanner-w@nkers and a few plastic-spastic Teutors.

Only one is what I would consider a 'real RAF aerodrome' - to think it was once know as 'El Adem with grass'!

[Jackonicko]

Retaining infrastructure, equipment or personnel for sentiment alone is obviously silly.

And you could probably jam the whole of the current RAF onto a handful of bases.

BUT

Airfields are irreplaceable assets - you simply can not buy the land and build an airfield nowadays as you could in the 1930s, at least not in any meaningful timescale. So what happens if we ever need to expand in the future?

Why are we closing the most central, most retention-positive airfields in England while making a long term investment in bases in Taffistan and Jockistan, where there must be at least a chance that (long term) independence will deprive us of those airfields.

Why are we closing airfields when there are still Army (and RAF and even RN shore-based) units based at places without a runway? If we need to draw down, any infantry battalion should be based at a modern airfield, whose runways, lighting and tower should be kept operational. Aldershot? Close it and sell the land!

[Widger]

The booties (part of the RN) will give you Chivenor back ......for a small feeee!

[4Foxtrot]

What about Oakhanger? Not really an aerodrome, more of a cosmodrome.

[coat, door, taxi................]


But back to the thread, I don't know of anyone who can say a bad word about Colt. 'Tis sad to see another one end it's playing days.

[BEagle]

Diverted into Colt once in an F4 after my alleged leader had paid no attention to my 'Bingo' calls.......

Superbly well looked after. A really nice place with a can-do attitude.

Next time I visited was last year, some 20+ years later. As mere civilian filth, I drove to the guardroom, expecting the usual "Who are you, show yer ID, don't know nuffink' about it" you get elsewhere. But no - this was Colt and the non-contractorised guardroom staff were supremely courteous and helpful. They even arranged for the duty Landrover to show me where to go.

Later we had a meeting in the museum and a lecture from its volunteer custodian. Utterly amazing - but symptomatic of the corporate pride everyone had in the place. Looking around, it was like being back on a 'real' station before the days of the creeping cancer of contractorisation. It was well kept and overtly military - no scruffy civilians slouching about the place.

I hope that something has been done to secure the future of the museum - an astonishingly comprehensive collection of items all displayed immaculately.

The only real drawback to Colt was the poor road access.

I see that the navy are quibbling over Yeovilton or Dulldrose. Why don't they hand one or the other over to the RAF - or, even better, return Chivenor? Then we could close Valley......

[Inspector Dreyfuss]

A real shame to lose another airfield in a location that people actually enjoyed living in. I remember in the early 90s that a particularly well connected (thru' Rugby) SMO at Colt had pointed out to the RAF Board that Colt was the happiest stn in the Service. How did he argue this? Lowest divorce rates, lowest rate of malingering at the med centre, lowest rate of depression amongst serving personnel etc.
In comparison, I recently asked an Army mate how they justified keeping little pokey units such as Westbury-on-Trym open. The RAF would have sold it off years ago I said. He looked at me as if I was a madman (probably justifiably) and said, 'bloody nice place to live, don't want to lose it'. Meanwhile, we're busily cramming more staff officers into High Wycombe and selling Bentley off. I'm all for giving the taxpayers value for money, but is everyone playing the same game as us?

[A2QFI]

As we speak the RAF still has a few nice little stations and one of them is RAF Woodvale. A great oasis of calm and sanity in the wacky world of performance indicators and focus groups. Maybe not for much longer, if the UAS system gets messed about.

[ancientaviator62]

Just before I left the service some wag suggested that eventually the RAF (Royal Air Flight) would be based at one station. His nomination was Cranwell.(What's yours ?)
We would have one trainer, one FJ, one transport etc.
All maintained by an offshoot of Aeroflot who put in the lowest tender for the 5 day week. However he insisted we would still have an ACM as the CAS with all the corresponding high level rank structure to go with it (including the same level of civil service 'support' )
We seem to be heading towards this state of affairs
sooner than he could have imagined

[pr00ne]

Talking of airfield closures, whatever happened to the Defence Airfield Review Team (DART) report that was due last December?

When it was announced in late 2004 there were 73 military airfields in the UK, since then Coltishall has closed and Lyneham is scheduled to close, so that makes 71.

Whilst agreeing fully with BEags and others that it is sad to see these places go (of all the airfields I either served or trained at only Coningsby(edited to add that I must have obliterated from my memory banks that OTHER surviving station; VALLEY) is left!) is there really a case to retain all 73?

Jackonicko makes a good point about future expansion, if ten or 20 years down the line we face a very different world situation could we open new airfields, would we need to by then?

It wasn't as easy as many think to acquire land for airfield construction in the 1930's, it was done in the face of fierce opposition from the very influential landed gentry of the time.

Is there an outside possibility that the MOD is actually thinking along these lines with the hand over of airfields to the Army? If down the line you HAD to expand then there are many places currently serving our green bretheren that could be employed. Even in cases such as Bassingbourn and Waterbeach where the runways have gone the land remains on MOD ownership, the same applies with retained though not maintained runways in dozens of other locations.

[Jackonicko]

It may not have been easy to buy and build aerodromes in the 1930s, but it was easier, quicker and cheaper than it would be today.

Mowing a few grass runways and slapping up a couple of hangars was easier than erecting all the paraphernalia we expect and need today.

Moreover, those stations still in use in 2000 were the best located, best equipped, and most worth retaining.

And I still think that getting rid of stations in Scotland and Wales (and perhaps Cornwall) would be better than divesting ourselves of core infrastructure in England.

[joe2812]

For anyone whos interested in the museum at Colt...

The contents will be dispersed by the end of next month according to the EDP. Parts of the collection could find their way to the radar museum at Neatishead. The City of Norwich Aviation Museum at Horsham St Faith could get some it, as could a few other places.

The historian, Mick Jennings, owns 90% of the contents and will want to take a proportion of the artifacts with him as he's emigrating to Australia. He plans to write a book on Colt and return to the UK to give talking tours.

[Gericault]

Having spent a fair amount of my time wallowing around below Vsafe single engine around and about Colt, I think we're missing the point of this thread. At the last 2 parades at Colt, 54 and 16's demise and last weekend, CAS spoke very briefly about history and affection for units, jets and bases. Then he quickly moved on to the future and how we should all be looking there and not backwards. For me he's missing the point. The entire weekend was designed to be a celebration of the base's history, the personnel that have served there and their memories - he correctly, IMHO, declared that those memories and allegainces would go with us all. Much as I may think Typhoon is wonderful, Coningsby is a fantastic place to bring up your kids and Lincoln is great shopping area, I didn't want to hear it, either this weekend or 12 months ago. I wanted to wallow in how great we'd all been, what a superb place Colt was and how we'd all miss it. I have never seen so many old mates in the bar on Fri and I thought the ball was superb. I will never forget the hollow feeling driving away though, past the OMQs I'd lived in, (all 3 empty, one of them condemned), knowing I spent the last night ever in that Mess, drunk my last pint of Jaguar beer and attended the last ever ball. Say what you will, I was miserable and it's still sinking in. I'm not sure I like this air force any more. :(

[pr00ne]

Jackonicko,

"core infrastructure" in England! What on earth is "core" about England? How is Scotland or Wales any less "core" than England? There are in fact more remaining RAF stations in England than in Scotland and Wales combined!

The stations remaining in "Jockistan," as you dismissively and insultingly refer to the place, are large well equipped airfields with substantial infrastructure. Take Lossiemouth as a for instance, so dismissevely treated after it's selection as the future JCA base, where else could you fit the 5 planned F-35 squadrons on the same airfield? It is a large place with numerous large hangars and dispersals, HAS farms and is located in excellent airspace adjacent to weapons ranges and low fly areas. All that makes it an excllent choice as the future home of the F-35 fleet.

Gericault,

Move on, the RAF has been closing stations and airfields from a few months after it formed. In 1918 it had 675 airfields, nearly all of these were gone by 1920 because they were no longer needed.

Likewise 1945, BEagles 120 military aerodromes in East Anglia is a wonderful statistic but that was when we were a fully mobilised nation at war, by the end of 1946 most of these were gone, by far the majority were temporary anyway.

Still it is a fact that they DO seem to close all the NICE places.......................

[MostlyHarmless]

...(all 3 empty, one of them condemned),

Think I lived in that one, too...

[Jackonicko]

What is 'core' about England, Proone, is that there is not a growing and accelerating movement towards devolution and, perhaps, eventual independence.

Retaining bases in Jockistan while losing bases in England is like deliberately moving to one of thse villages being eroded by the sea, in preference to a safer, less risky, inland location.

Three bases in Scotland are three potential bases for the Republic of Scotland Air Force at some point in the future. We might usefully retain Lossie for temporary deployments to take advantage of the LFAs and ranges, but retaining Leuchars and Kinloss while ditching St Mawgan, Lyneham, Coltishall, Odiham, Benson et al is insanity.

[Gericault]

Jackonicko,
" In 1918 it had 675 airfields, nearly all of these were gone by 1920 because they were no longer needed.
.....

Which means they were at least 2 years old. You too have missed my point, it's a chunk of people's history and their development into what they are now that we've closed, seemingly without a rearward glance. I'll move on, but it doesn't stop me from looking back fondly. Perhaps you've never had the privilige of working at place like Colt? Or perhaps you are CAS?:eek:

[soprano54]

Totally agree with you on that one 'Gericault' only had 2 1/2 years there, great place, good bunch of poeple and the camaraderie much the same as being in a close knit regiment! Would go back tommorow if I could, but just know it isn't possible.

[OCCWMF]

Anyone got any good pics of the last jet leaving?

[TyroPicard]

Some good ones on warplane.co.uk mil forum. The pilot did a superb job!

TP

[OCCWMF]

But then you're biased!

[ranger703]

Try this link,a few more on UKAR too,seems that the Boss was determined that a Jag would be the last aircraft to leave Coltishall!!

http://www.ukar.co.uk/cgi-bin/ukarboard/ikonboard.cgi?;act=ST;f=9;t=13477

[Climebear]

Nice pics

Apart from I'm sure many like myself "welled up" at the closure of this last Battle Of Britain airfield.

When did this happen? What happened to Northolt and Wittering (or even Middle Wallop and Boscombe Down) - all Battle of Britain Stations - are they closed as well?;)

[Navaleye]

Wittering's place must be looking a bit doubtful. Just one OCU? In a big expensive airfield? I heard theer was room for the lot at Cottesmore.

[pr00ne]

Navaleye,

Wittering is in the middle of a large scale build up to be the RAF deployable logistics hub, quite a lot of folk moving in.

Cottesmore has 4 hangars, 1 of which is the Eng Wng/JUMP facility, so you may have a bit of a difficulty squeezing 5 squadrons in the other 3.

[Flatus Veteranus]

When did this happen? What happened to Northolt and Wittering (or even Middle Wallop and Boscombe Down) - all Battle of Britain Stations - are they closed as well?

The trouble is that the RAF fought its defining battle largely over the South and East of England, where property values are astronomic. Most of the stations whose names are part of the tapestry of this country's history have been sold off by politicians with scant regard for history but most sensitive to the demands of the construction indistry. Even rural sites like "Tangers" and "the Weald" are presumably "brown land" and ripe for development.

[buoy15]

Beags
"El Adem with grass"
Would that be Machrihanish by any chance?
Spent some happy nights in the 'Parahandy' on a Thursday when the trawlermen were at sea!:)

[Art Field]

No, El Adem with grass has always been Marham though one summer, round about 71, 72 it was so dry that even the grass died and it was El Adem, but fortunately without the bed bugs.

PrOOne, you quote a figure of around 70 military airfields remaining in the UK, I find myself very hard put to come near that figure even including places like Upavon and Syerston.

[BEagle]

Ah, but Arters, it was only about 10 years ago that a senior officer asked me whether I could take him to Acklington in a light aeroplane!

I guess he must be one of those who dreamed up Pr00ne's 73 military aerodromes?

Maybe they included places like Boulmer International? Or Portland?

[L-H]

Did 22 years in the RAF, 13 of them at Colt. It was a boyhood dream as a fresh faced 19 year old LAC to be posted to the same station as Stanford-Tuck and Bader.
All those weird and wonderful place names in 'Fly For Your Life' and 'Reach For The Sky' came to life for me, the wartime camouflage paint still visible on the AMQs as you drove past the Families Naafi, the Spitfire on the main gate(Spit Mk XVIe SL542 coded 4M-N of 595 Sqn), the tree lined roads rich with blossom in spring, the flower beds proudly tended throughout the year. A unit to be proud of.

Sadly times move on and Colt will go the same way as the rest of the proud East Anglian Air Force stations.

[pr00ne]

Gericault,

I fully accept that it is a chunk of folks history, nothing I said inferred that was NOT the case, you can move on AND recognize the place the station holds in peoples hearts and in history, no need to dismiss the joint just because there is no further need for it. IF CAS did that then he did the place a disservice.

No, I never served at Coltishall. In my day it was the Lightning OCU and therefore a place to be avoided, as I had absolutely no desire to spend my flying days on 25 minute sorties with my arse on fire, one eye on the fuel gauge and my head stuck in the radar scope! The only operational stations I served at were Coningsby and Bruggen.

Art Field,

I was quoting directly from a statement by CAS in October 2004 when the Defence Airfield Review team study was announced. He did say that it included places such as Syerston and Halton.

BEagle,

Not me “dreaming” up 73, it was the Chief of the Air Staff, I guess he should know!



I guess Coltishall WAS a small chunk of an Air Force now largely vanished; flight lines, no HAS farms, precious little contractorisation or civilianisation, no centralised servicing.
Add this to the fact that it was a single type station, and for the last few years the only Jag station, I guess it must have become a bit like Binbrook did in the 80’s? Hope it’s future is rather different…………………………….

[Mowgli]

Some, who like me, have fond memories of Colt (8 years), have eloquently echoed how I feel about the place and how sad I was when I walked away from the mess in the early hours of Sunday morning. It was like a very good funeral.

I heard a quote recently about the man who has one eye looking back and one looking forward being half blind, and yet the man who has no eyes looking back is completely blind.

We seem very adept in the UK at putting a lid on those things about which we should be so proud. This thread is not the place for talking about Typhoon and the future, or that now we should understand what it has been like for the Navy.

It is a time to reflect on a Station which has served this country well; which demonstrated how to have high operational efficiency with high morale, and a sympathetic and rewarding relationship with the local area and city. A station which was home for, amongst other worthies, Bader, Crowley-Milling and Stanford-Tuck. These are things which don't sit well on an accountant's balance sheet, nor do they form a basis for a study on future basing requirements. But they are important. These are things which can stir emotion and pride in the hearts of our future brave men and women who may someday need a noble cause to call upon when they are asked by their leaders to go forward into known danger.

Colt has heard the sigh of the merlin and the roar of the afterburning jet. Young people have laughed, loved, cried and died there.

It was a very fine place indeed.

[meag197]

I was lucky enough to go to Coltishall on a UAS summer camp in the late 90's, (those were the days! Can't see them happening again with the new, all improved UAS system), and had the most amazing month! The station was welcoming, they didn't mind wet behind the ears UAS cadets running around looking at stuff, the squadrons put up with our incessant questions and begging for trips (it paid off in the end though!), ATC helped us around the unfamiliar airspace and the Mess was fantastic! Having grown up reading biographies of the Battle of Britain pilots, it was inspiring to be in the same Mess as Douglas Bader et al.

Thank you Coltishall for creating some of the best memories of my time in the UAS!:)

[Foxed Moth]

Well written Mowgli!

I used to loiter in East Anglia when Wattisham and Bentwaters and Coltishall all were busy, I was a schoolboy living so close to Northolt that the first/last of the approach lights was just a pebble's throw from the garden fence and ..oh, okay, I can feel the grimaces and frowns already, enough history.

My point is that it is not so much the material that is lost, it is easy enough to build another runway, erect another hangar, put up another fence, construct another mess ... such things can be replaced in weeks.

BUT what cannot be replaced in a hurry is the people with experience, the people with skill, the people with knowledge, the people that made, in this case Coltishall, what it was ... Coltishall had precisely the same hardware as any other RAF base, its bricks and concrete were no different, it was the people that made it different, the people that made it work (okay and the location no doubt helped too).

Yes it can be entertaining to argue and debate how many airbases, airfields, aerodromes are needed but it is not about the bricks and the concrete, it is about the people.

The RAF had some exceptional people at Coltishall, where are they now?

A few years ago the Government of New Zealand (wherein I have dwelt for some 20 years) decided it no longer required the services of its Skyhawks, so it disbanded the RNZAF's leading edge and hundreds of people suddenly were out of work.

The base is still there ... the aircraft are still here (although officially they were "sold" last September) but the people that made it all work have been scattered and abandoned, their individual and collective skill gone.

So I reckon that looking at individual bases is misleading, it is not the bases that matter, it is, always, the people that matter.

It is the loss of people that is tragic, it is the loss of people that cannot (easily or quickly) be replaced or even restored.

It is fun to argue and comment about tomorrow's aircraft and tomorrow's weapons, but none of them are of any use whatsoever without the right people.

Right, that's it for now ... on my current average I will not post another message until mid-2007 ...

[Always a Sapper]

Well written Mowgli!
I used to loiter in East Anglia when Wattisham and Bentwaters and Coltishall all were busy, I was a schoolboy living so close to Northolt that the first/last of the approach lights was just a pebble's throw from the garden fence and ..oh, okay, I can feel the grimaces and frowns already, enough history.
My point is that it is not so much the material that is lost, it is easy enough to build another runway, erect another hangar, put up another fence, construct another mess ... such things can be replaced in weeks.
BUT what cannot be replaced in a hurry is the people with experience, the people with skill, the people with knowledge, the people that made, in this case Coltishall, what it was ... Coltishall had precisely the same hardware as any other RAF base, its bricks and concrete were no different, it was the people that made it different, the people that made it work (okay and the location no doubt helped too).
Yes it can be entertaining to argue and debate how many airbases, airfields, aerodromes are needed but it is not about the bricks and the concrete, it is about the people.
The RAF had some exceptional people at Coltishall, where are they now?
A few years ago the Government of New Zealand (wherein I have dwelt for some 20 years) decided it no longer required the services of its Skyhawks, so it disbanded the RNZAF's leading edge and hundreds of people suddenly were out of work.
The base is still there ... the aircraft are still here (although officially they were "sold" last September) but the people that made it all work have been scattered and abandoned, their individual and collective skill gone.
So I reckon that looking at individual bases is misleading, it is not the bases that matter, it is, always, the people that matter.
It is the loss of people that is tragic, it is the loss of people that cannot (easily or quickly) be replaced or even restored.
It is fun to argue and comment about tomorrow's aircraft and tomorrow's weapons, but none of them are of any use whatsoever without the right people.
Right, that's it for now ... on my current average I will not post another message until mid-2007 ...

IMHO.... The best post yet, but does the current political leadership really understand or come to that actually give a .....

I'd like to say yes, but I think we all know the true answer :(